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CHRIS ROBERTS: Some songwriters like to wallow in the misery of romantic love. But Jessica Seamans and Briana Smith, who go by Jess and Bri, often sing about a love with some staying power, their friendship.

(SINGING) How do you always know what I'm going to say

How can you always finish my sentences

Bri it's because we've known each other for so long

And Bri it's because we've always marched to the same drum

How do you always know what I'm going to say

How can you always finish my sentences

Siemens and Smith grew up in the Brainerd Lakes area, in the small town of Crosby, Minnesota. They were two brainy, nerdy outcasts who eventually developed a fierce mutual devotion. Although when they first met in fifth grade, they made a lousy impression on each other.

BRIANA SMITH: What's the quick line for it, Jess?

JESSICA SEAMANS: The quick line is that Bri was too uptight, and I was too obnoxious. So we were kind of turned off by each other.

CHRIS ROBERTS: But not for long, as they discovered they had the same passion for gothy alt rock giants Smashing Pumpkins and a hunger to make their own music. They melded together as friends. By seventh grade, they were inseparable.

JESSICA SEAMANS: Our parents were concerned and even irritated at how much time we were spending together. And my mom would-- I remember she would always say things like, tell me about how her best friends, when she was my age, she wasn't friends with them in her 20s. And I don't think she was saying it to be mean, but I think she wanted to prepare me for that. And I think--

BRIANA SMITH: You're not going to be friends forever. Something's going to tear you apart.

JESSICA SEAMANS: And sometimes I think of this band as this response to my mom saying that. I mean, I know we're still only in our early 20s, but we're going strong.

(SINGING) I, I, I, I love the way that you move me

And I you, you make me so happy

And I, I, I write so many songs for old people

That means so much less to me

I, I, I

CHRIS ROBERTS: Smith and Seamans see themselves as symbols of the power of platonic relationships, which they believe are equal to romantic ones.

JESSICA SEAMANS: And oftentimes, romantic relationships trump platonic relationships. And we really want to show how important and supportive they are and that it's great to celebrate close friendships such as ours.

CHRIS ROBERTS: Best Friends Forever songs are quirky, wordy, and occasionally absurd. When they're not about friendship, they tend to focus on Smith and Seaman's feelings or adventures. The group doesn't follow traditional pop song formulas. Their performances are unpolished, tempos often shift mid-song, and sometimes you can't tell if a verse is ending or a chorus is beginning. Early on, they were even more rebellious as songwriters.

JESSICA SEAMANS: At that time, we had it in our heads that we were against pop music, and we would have no verses or choruses, and that we were superior.

BRIANA SMITH: And we certainly wouldn't sing about things like love or boys.

JESSICA SEAMANS: Certainly not.

CHRIS ROBERTS: Smith and Seaman's resolve not to write mushy relationship songs began to weaken as they got older. And then, along came Lord of the Rings' heartthrob Orlando Bloom, and they gave in completely.

JESSICA SEAMANS: And it was kind of bizarre because neither of us have ever really had celebrity crushes before. So it felt worthy of having a song written about it.

[BEST FRIENDS FOREVER, "HOW BRI BREAKS IT OFF WITH MOVIE STARS"] Oh oh Orlando

You are a hot young movie star

And I am a famous musician

But high profile couples are just asking for trouble

And the truth is I don't want a boyfriend

It's cool that we have so much

CHRIS ROBERTS: The song about Orlando Bloom is called "How Bri Breaks It Off With Movie Stars." It's definitely tongue-in-cheek. But a more heartfelt declaration of love comes in the group's ridiculous yet oddly touching song about our nation's 16th president. Smith had been reading Gore Vidal's fictional account of Abraham Lincoln's life and was extremely impressed by Lincoln, the man.

JESSICA SEAMANS: I just got really emotionally invested in him and wanted to let it out in a song.

[BEST FRIENDS FOREVER, "ABE LINCOLN"] Abraham Lincoln I would like

To go back in time and be your wife

Not because I'd be the first lady

But because I think you're charming

I know you were an unhappy man

Funereal they say

I could have made you a happy man

That laughed and danced and sang

And I would have recited Shakespeare with you

Let you read all the good lines

You could have been Iago and Othello every time

I would have done your shopping for you

Bought you your tall pants

I would have been presently affectionate

I would have put my hand in your long hand

And if I'd been on the balcony of Ford's Theater

When Mr. Booth came up with gun in hand

I would have put my head in front of your head

I would have put my head in front of your head

CHRIS ROBERTS: And that's the title of the song, "My Head in Front of Your Head." And it's becoming a teaching tool. A woman in New York somehow got a hold of it and recommended it to her friend who teaches English as a second language in France. A teaching assistant at Saint Paul's Highland High School heard it on the current and brought it into her history class. The label Best Friends Forever is often tagged with is novelty band. Seaman understands why, but she says it isn't accurate.

JESSICA SEAMANS: I feel like our songs are pretty earnest. And even though there's jokey parts or whatever, everything's pretty heartfelt. So I would hope it's a serious thing, but we're not taking ourselves really seriously.

CHRIS ROBERTS: City Pages music editor Sarah Askari, who's a big fan of Best Friends Forever, characterizes the band's persona in its songs and on stage as a naive innocence, but she believes it's genuine.

SARAH ASKARI: I think that they have enough wide-eyed enthusiasm and charm in what they do that you don't hold it against them, you don't feel manipulated. You feel like they're doing it so that you can all be in on the same kind of joke.

CHRIS ROBERTS: And as far as entertainment value is concerned, Askari says Best Friends Forever's music has a lot.

SARAH ASKARI: Their songs are really well constructed. The melodies do stick with you. They do stay in your head. When you say Best Friends Forever, I immediately start singing in my head, Eisenhower is the father of the interstate highway system. It works.

CHRIS ROBERTS: Which is a song the band wrote after seeing that phrase at a highway rest stop on the way to a gig in Michigan.

[BEST FRIENDS FOREVER, "EISENHOWER IS THE FATHER"] Eisenhower is the father

Of the interstate highway system

And the song is just a way

To pay a little tribute to him

It was on that road my true love

And I rode from Ohio to Pittsburgh

Our separate cars gave me the time to think

Best Friends Forever is where it wants to be at this point. It's developing an audience in and outside Minnesota, and it's nearly finished with a new CD. Brianna Smith says her only concern is that the work of this band, based on friendship, may start to interfere with a friendship.

BRIANA SMITH: I have to really struggle to be like, OK, let's not talk about band business. Let's just talk about our lives and our personal friendship.

CHRIS ROBERTS: Their commitment to each other may be put to the test when Best Friends Forever embarks on a six-week bicoastal tour, beginning in June. I'm Chris Roberts, Minnesota Public Radio News.

[BEST FRIENDS FOREVER, "HANDPOCKET"] Put your hand in my back pocket

As if it were your own back pocket

Sing with me make this a duet la da da

Singing makes me want to do it thank you

Skate with me to the place where

I once met with mortal danger

The ice was thin and I fell through it

And when I got out I was panicked

When I'm panicked, I can't skate no, no, no

When I got out, the bruises on my knees were enormous

Once my dad took me ice fishing

I was cold and bored and found myself wishing

I was doing anything else but ice fishing

So I wandered away with my head in outer space

I fell into a hole my dad had drilled into the lake

When he pulled me out, my dad's friends could not stop laughing

I almost died it was so embarrassing

But I'm alive so you can fall in love with me

So put, put, put, put your hand in my back pocket

As if it were your own back pocket

Sing with me make this a duet la da da